Coupons

[Beignet]

CVS has a program called ECB's (Extra Care Bucks).

Coupons are printed on the bottom of your receipts. There are some good deals that can save you a lot of money!

I heard on Clark Howard's show that CVS's name brand prducts are of an good/excellent quality.

Also in the Sunday flyers, there are even more coupons,

Walgreens will probably be offering the same type of saving "bucks" soon.

[hollyvangogh]

I find that most coupons aren't worth the time. Most coupons are for name brand, and even with the coupon name brand tends to cost more than the generic. Plus manufacturers' coupons are usually for new products they want you to try...i.e. products not already on your shopping list. So you end up spending instead of saving. I like to avoid looking at ads anyway because they just breed want. Plus you have to consider time value...how much are you "making" per hour as you look for and cut coupons?

[purplefdu]

If you follow a couponing forum such as ww.slickdeals.net or Coupon Forum :: Index - CouponForum.com you can easily just follow other's suggestions as to how to use your CVS coupons best. One of the things I see mentioned is how CVS will let you "stack" coupons or use more than one coupon on an item. Many have sucessfully gotten their purchases free or even gotten overage or money back. Slickdeals even has a feature which will let you know when new deals you might be interested in come available so you could stalk CVS deals. CVS is a good deal, my neighbors manage a store each, unfortunately out of state.

[Basenjimom]

Actually, coupons are worth the time, if you are really trying to save and combine them with sales and in store specials - you just have to keep a close eye on the flyers, and I never go to the store without my coupons in tow!
Just this week at my local grocer, all Lean Cuisine dinners are 50% off - there was a coupon in the paper yesterday worth $1 off 5 of them - so by combining the coupon with the sale, I am getting a great deal on these meals that I take to work for my lunches.
My store also had 16 oz Peter Pan peanut butter for $1, there was a coupon in the Sunday paper for $1 off any size Peter Pan, making it FREE! And, by borrowing coupons from neighbors and freinds that won't use them, I can get more than 1 jar for free!
If that's not a good deal, then I don't know what is!

[gt0163c]

Originally Posted by Basenjimom

Actually, coupons are worth the time, if you are really trying to save and combine them with sales and in store specials - you just have to keep a close eye on the flyers

I agree. By combining sales and coupons, especially on items you would buy anyway, you can save a reasonable amount of money. It does help a lot to be in an area where stores double or triple coupons. But, even when that's not an option, there are still ways to save a significant amount of money. Many stores will combine store and manufacturers coupons on items and, if you can get the item on sale or with a rebate (Walgreens and CVS are probably the best for this) you can often get things for free or even make a few cents on a transaction.

I think the biggest key to saving money with coupons is to use them only for things that you would be buying anyway.

[purplefdu]

Originally Posted by gt0163c

I think the biggest key to saving money with coupons is to use them only for things that you would be buying anyway.

Definitely, saving money on items you don't need or normally use is costing you money and effort not saving it. We buy the same things basically every week just in different flavors/combinations so its easy to find coupons for what we need.

[Basenjimom]

CVS can offer good deals, especially if you combine manufacturers coupons with the sale price, and stack your CVS coupons, and Extra Care Bucks on top of them - Today I got a 3 pack of Dial liquid soap, and two 2 -packs of Ziploc resuable conatiners, both items were on sale and I had a manufacturers coupon for each, a CVS coupon worth $4 off $10 purchase, and Extra Care Bucks from a previous purchase - I PAID 48 CENTS OUT OF POCKET for these items !!!!

[Milehimama]

CVS is awesome. I'm just getting into going there, but last week I bought $55 worth of stuff and paid a penny for it. And I got $7 in ECB's back.

Coupons are good! I LOVE them! I always take into account how much the generic costs, though. For example, I had a coupon for 40 cents off three cans of diced tomatoes (Del Monte brand). DelMonte costs 85 cents a can, so the total for three cans would be $2.15. The generic costs 54 cents a can, so using the coupon would still be more expensive than buying generic, so I didn't use it.
But, I had a 75 cents off coupon for Muir Glen. A can of Muir Glen FireRoasted diced tomatoes cost $1.25. With the coupon (75 cents off) it was 50 cents - cheaper than the generic (and a better product). You bet I snatched it up!

I have a coupon for Kashi on my website on the right sidebar. It is a printable coupon for $2 off Kashi cookies or snacks. At WalMart, Kashi cookies are $2.50 a box - with coupon, 50 cents for a box of cookies healthy enough to eat for a quick breakfast!

I save around 30-40% off my grocery bill with coupons (and none of the local stores around here double. When I lived in a big town, I saved 50-60% off and often got things for free.)

[Joanne]

I've found it's definitely worth it to use coupons. Especially if it's on sale and you have several of the same coupon. I've been on forums where we've had coupon exchanges or coupon trains. We can do something like that here if anybody is interested.

[Milehimama]

I'd be interested!